


I’ll see the veins of my city

by darksideofmyroom



Series: anatomy of the aftermath [2]
Category: Avengers infinity war - Fandom, Black Panther (2018), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Aftermath, Angst, Dialogue Heavy, Gen, Grief, Hopeful Ending, Loss, Post Avengers Infinity War, Short, Wakanda, anyway, i love these characters so much the heck, kind of, y’all how come peter quill’s grandfather is a tag but m’baku isn’t I’m crying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-17
Updated: 2018-10-17
Packaged: 2019-08-03 16:24:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16329494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darksideofmyroom/pseuds/darksideofmyroom
Summary: “a tale of resilience is the hardest one to tell, for there is no way to put such strenght into words”Wakanda in the aftermath of the war





	I’ll see the veins of my city

Once the dust settles, it becomes a counting game.

 

How many are missing, how many have a body, how many faded away.

 

It’s not about the names, at first, which is probably what hurts the most.

 

They can never really know whose ashes they’re picking up.

 

Except for the ones that saw it happen. They know who they lost, but they try to forget.

 

It’s a counting game, and the numbers are way too high.

 

* * *

 

 

“Did you see it happening?” Shuri asks her as they’re sitting outside the great hall.

 

She hasn’t really said a thing since she learned her brother was gone, and seeing her stay in the shadows, closing in on herself, it hurt. She was too young, yet she kept losing, and losing more.

 

Okoye squeezes her eyes shut, and she keeps seeing it, and she knows there was nothing she could have done. But she still failed, she wasn’t able to protect her king.

 

“I did”

 

Shuri sniffs, nods quietly. Her voice is watery when she asks:

“Did he say anything, before it happened?”

 

Okoye looks away from her, her grip on her spear getting tight.

 

_This is no place to die._

 

* * *

 

 

Then, then they’re lost.

 

There’s nothing they can do but share their grief.

 

The nights almost seem to get cold, and it feels like the very essence of their country is fading away as well.

 

They work to repair the mess the battle left behind, but there isn’t any heart in their actions.

 

It’s all about mechanisms, once the realization hits.

 

* * *

 

 

“I know what you’re here for” M’Baku sits on his throne as if it was any other chair. There is no pride in it, no privilege. Not anymore.

 

Queen Ramonda raises her head to look directly at him, and there’s a determination, a will to keep fighting that is so foreign to see in her red rimmed eyes.

 

“Then you know you need to say yes, for the sake of our country”

 

“There’s nothing left of Wakanda, Your Majesty. There’s nothing I could do as a king that would bring our people peace”

 

“There is always hope”

 

“No, not now. Wakanda is falling to its knees. Slowly decaying.”

 

“We will not go down without a fight”

 

M’Baku sighs, there is nothing left for him to lose.

 

“We’ll still go down.” then he adds “but I will always fight for Wakanda”

 

The Queen doesn’t smile, but somehow he can feel her gratefulness.

“Will you be our king, then?”

 

“I am not the king we need, Your Majesty. But I offer you all the help I have to give.”

 

* * *

 

 

As the days go by ever so torturously, the grief begins to change in anger, then it becomes determination, and finally resilience.

 

There isn’t any hope yet, but there’s the intention to keep going, to rise again.

 

Slowly, ever so slowly, the sunset starts to look beautiful again.

 

* * *

 

 

Nakia comes back after receiving a call from Okoye.

 

There’s a deep sadness in her eyes, but she’s as determined as she’s ever been as she takes the matters into her hands.

 

She refuses to celebrate the ceremony, she doesn’t want to be queen.

 

“I’m just here to do my best to try and fix things” she tells Shuri.

 

The girl nods knowingly, raising her eyes from the three dimensional screen she’s working on.

 

“Me too. I don’t want to give up, not yet. There’s always something we can do. And maybe we’ll find a way to reverse this, sooner or later”

 

Nakia smiles softly.

“Maybe we will”

 

They both think of T’Challa.

 

 

* * *

 

 

The Avengers, or what’s left of them, wander around the city like ghosts, with no purpose and no hope.

 

But not Wakandans. They’ve always had strength, and a passion as hard to kill as their force of will.

 

They start crawling until they can get on on their feet again.

 

They raise their heads and refuse to bow down.

 

They don’t forget, but they keep fighting.

 

* * *

 

 

“You’re doing a good job, Nakia”

 

“I’m doing what I can”

 

They both stare out the window, where their land keeps expanding under their eyes. Brown, green and golden shades dance in the landscape and Wakanda is as beautiful as ever.

 

“I never loved anything more than Wakanda” says Okoye, just above a whisper “or so I thought. Until I saw my king turn to dust, and all my warriors, my people. I realized, Nakia, the reason I love my country the most is my people”

 

Nakia nods at her to keep going.

 

“When it happened, I really thought it would be our end. But now I know there is no end for Wakanda, just new beginnings”

 

* * *

 

 

Once the dust is blown away, it becomes a waiting game.

 

They wait for a new beginning, they wait for a new fight, they wait for a way to fix everything.

 

They wait for hope.

**Author's Note:**

> I kind of enjoyed writing this even though it’s not really my best. I just wanted to give Wakanda and its people some sort of justice because I’m still low key pissed they all put their lives on the line for the sake of a damn computer which wasn’t even a real human being and still ended up exploding so yup.  
> Once again I’m sorry for the mistakes I probably made and feel free to leave feed back! I’d love that!


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